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Tag Archives: Fun Flowers Bigz L die
Wow cards: Due
For our second Wow card, I cased one of my own recent favorite projects:
- Best Friends and Perfectly Penned stamp sets
- Naturals White, Wisteria Wonder, Concord Crush and Pear Pizazz card stock
- Wisteria Wonder and Concord Crush Classic ink pads
- Vanilla Smooch Spritz
- Big Shot and Fun Flowers Bigz L die
- XL Two Step Bird, Boho and Flower Builder punches
- Neutrals buttons and White Bakers Twine
I loved that big distressed flower and brought it back in a new color scheme. To get that look, you REALLY have to smush the individual die cuts a lot, then stack them and secure them with a button or brad, and then mist them. The misting process softens the paper even more, and so when you do your final crush and fluff your petals crumple naturally. The paper also holds its shape best if it has been misted and allowed to dry in place.
We had a pretty good time smushing those flowers.  It’s an excellent way to take out a little aggression, because the paper really benefits from some serious twisting and crumpling. Once you’ve really worked it over and you start to assemble the flower, all of that crankiness seems to melt away as your blossom takes shape. Who could be angry with a flower?
I think I’ll cut some Fun Flower shapes to have on hand for emergencies.
Stamp theory
In theory, you only need a couple of stamp sets – change up your colors and your layout, and you have a completely different card:
- Raining Flowers and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
- Very Vanilla, Melon Mambo and Concord Crush card stock
- Melon Mambo, Always Artichoke, Daffodil Delight and Concord Crush Classic ink pads
- Eyelet border punch
- Piercing tool, template and mat
- Always Artichoke Seam Binding
- Stampin’ Dimensionals
- Big Shot and Fun Flowers Bigz L die
- Crystal Effects
In THEORY, I said – after all, we all know there is no such thing as too many stamps. Not enough room to store your stamps, yes, this is possible.
If you look closely and compare today’s card with the previous Raining Flowers card, you’ll see many of the same elements – the Fun Flowers Bigz L die, Crystal Effects, and Two-Step Stampin’ – but these are very different cards. Of course, there are no pancakes in this post, so this card suffers by comparison, but that’s just the way the Ricotta and Mango Stuffed pancake crumbles.
I’ve gotta stop thinking about those pancakes.
Re-use, reduce, recycle
I was in search of a bigger basket, one that would be sturdy enough to hold more than a couple of pieces of chocolate. I found a beautiful example on Mary Jo Albright’s blog, complete with a tutorial:
- Elements of Style stamp set
- Marina Mist and Rose Red card stock
- Springtime Vintage Designer Series Paper
- the stiff white 12 x 12 sheets that come in the back of the Stampin’ Up! DSP package
- Marina Mist Classic ink pad
- Victoria Crochet Trim;Â Tombo the Wonder Adhesive
- Vintage Flowers Adornments; brads
- Big Shot and Scallop Envelope and Fun Flowers Bigz dies
You read that right – this basket is made from the Scallop Envelope cut out of the stiff white sheets from the back of the package of the DSP. I stamped on them to disguise them , and I was pleased with how strong they made the project. And it’s so green!
I really need to go back and give this basket a little step-up treatment. It was a club project, and I knew we would be challenged to finish in the amount of time we have, so I left the handle pretty plain. We did make a layered flower to put on the top, but it looks a little lonesome sitting there by itself.
I wanted the bottom to be finished, and I also wanted to stabilize the base to make the basket sturdy. I cut a hexagon from Marina Mist to put inside, and a second one to finish the bottom. Wow. It looks so simple, written like that. Have you tried to cut a hexagon lately? A nice, symmetrical one? Let’s just say it’s been a long time since geometry! I tried a number of techniques, but in the end I do what I generally end up doing: I winged it. And for being winged, I thought it came out pretty well:
Ha – oops, you can see my stitches. I get teased all the time because I like to sew things on. I hate it when things fall off!! Just don’t look too closely at my hexagon, ok?
Blissin’ with the Big Shot
Sometimes I feel guilty about how often I demonstrate the Big Shot at stamping events. I mean, not everyone has one, and once you see it in action, well, not having one can be a little problem. But as I tell my club members, it’s my job to mess with your minds! You may think you don’t need something, but the way I see it, you come to see me to find out what you don’t know you’re missing. That’s my story and I’m standing by it.
Here’s one of the Big Shot cards we did at club last month:
- Bliss (Sale-a-bration) stamp set
- Whisper White and Marina Mist card stock
- Marina Mist Classic ink pad
- Marina Mist 5/8 inch grosgrain ribbon
- Vintage Flower adornments
- Big Shot; Top Note Bigz die; Fun Flowers Bigz L die; Framed Tulips Textured Impressions Embossing folder
- Stampin Dimensionals and Tombo, the Wonder Adhesive
I’ve admired many predominantly white cards like this, but it’s taken me a while to come up with a design I felt happy with. Have to admit I like with this card – the only challenge will be getting it into an envelope and mailing it. I just know my buddies at the USPO are going to make me pay dearly for that Vintage Flower adornment, but sometimes you’ve just got to go for it.
Builder Dan keeps making promising noises, but my bed is still in the living room and there is a fine layer of construction dust on absolutely everything in the house – and the yard. It’s gonna be worth it, I know it…I just need a little more patience. Does it surprise you when I confess that patience isn’t one of my gifts? I didn’t think it would.
The Maui Stamper 